Catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) is a well known process utilized to produce synthesis gas from methane and oxygen. The CPO process seeks to eliminate gas phase partial oxidation reactions and utilizes a highly active Group VIII metal catalyst at high rate or low dwell time such that such reactions do not occur. Such processes require a special ignition means to heat the catalyst bed to a temperature at which ignition occurs, without heating the catalyst bed at such a rapid rate that the bed itself would be destroyed by thermal stresses. Conventional light-off procedures, such as a preheating torch or burner, utilized in other syngas generation systems are not practical for the CPO process. The reactor is too small to accommodate such equipment, and its design prevents the functioning of a torch. Therefore, what is needed in the art is a reactor lighting process which is capable of igniting the CPO catalyst bed without thermally stressing the bed.